Air(Page 11)

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Russians pushing toward Kharkiv Oblast city Ukraine liberated in 2022
News & Features

Russians Advancing On Kharkiv Region City Ukraine Liberated In 2022

By Howard Altman

Posted on Sep 27, 2024

U-28 retirement
Air

Plans To Axe Special Operations Surveillance Planes Come Under The Microscope

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 27, 2024

After almost 45 years of service, including multiple combat deployments, the F-16 was formally retired today by the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF). At the same time, the service announced that the F-35A had attained full operational capability, with the stealth fighter now responsible for the full spectrum of missions previously handled by the Viper, including nuclear strike.
Air

The Last Viper Commander: Dutch Squadron Boss On Today’s Retirement Of The F-16

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on Sep 27, 2024

Imagery said to show the aftermath of a highly targeted air strike on a car in Lebanon has prompted questions about whether a previously unknown miniature munition designed to produce extremely little collateral damage may have been employed.
Air

Was A Mini “Sword Bomb” Just Used To Strike A Car In Lebanon?

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Sep 27, 2024

KC-10 Extender tail #86-0036 performs its final mission as it heads of to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., following a July 13 ceremony at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., that marked the first retirement of 59 Extenders intended for eventual replacement by the KC-46A Pegasus. A total of three KC-10s from the Air Force’s Backup-Aircraft Inventory were congressionally approved for retirement during Fiscal Year 2020. As KC-10s are retired, the 309th AMARG will continue to support the remaining Extenders with spare parts as they are flown for several years while the KC-46A Pegasus is integrated into Air Mobility Command’s Total Force tanker enterprise. For nearly four decades, the KC-10 has helped secure global reach for America, providing in- flight refueling to U.S. and coalition aircraft, from Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm to Operation Inherent Resolve. The KC- 10 is flown from JBMDL by both the 305th AMW and its associate Air Force Reserve unit, the 514th AMW.
Air

Final KC-10 Extender Tanker Flies Into Retirement

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 26, 2024

The U.S. Marine Corps says it has demonstrated new capabilities for operating future drones with high degrees of autonomy in expeditionary operations with another test flight of one of its stealthy XQ-58 Valkyries.
Air

Third Marine XQ-58 Valkyrie Flight Test Uses Link 16 For Control

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 26, 2024

AGM-154 JSOW for Ukraine's F-16
News & Features

Biden Surging $8B In Aid To Ukraine That Includes AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapons For F-16s

By Howard Altman

Updated on Sep 26, 2024

Top Aces F-16
Air

World’s Only Private Company With F-16 Aggressors Talks Rapidly Evolving Their Capabilities

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Sep 25, 2024

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is looking to explore concepts for a new drone capable of lugging around up to 70,000 pounds of cargo, roughly twice what the U.S. Marine Corps' CH-53K King Stallion helicopter can lift.
Air

Search For Cargo Drone That Can Lift Twice As Much As A CH-53K King Stallion Kicks Off

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 25, 2024

Canadian authorities have released an image of an unidentified object that was shot down over the country's Yukon Territory by a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighter in February 2023.
Air

First Look At Mystery Object Shot Down Over Canada By F-22 Raptor Last Year

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 25, 2024

An F-35 Lightning II test pilot conducts flight test Sept. 10 to certify the carrier variant of the fighter aircraft for carrying the AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM). As part of ongoing integration efforts, the Pax River F-35 Integrated Test Force (Pax ITF) team flew two days of test flights to evaluate flutter, loads, and flying qualities with two AGM-158 loaded on external stations. LRASM is a defined near-term solution for the Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (OASuW) air-launch capability gap that will provide flexible, long-range, advanced, anti-surface capability against high-threat maritime targets. The Pax River ITF’s mission is to effectively plan, coordinate, and conduct safe, secure, and efficient flight test for F-35B and C variants, and provide necessary and timely data to support program verification / certification and fleet operational requirements.
Air

F-35 Shown Carrying Stealthy Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles For The First Time

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 24, 2024

NGAD Lite
Air

What Would A Far Cheaper Next Generation Air Dominance Fighter Actually Look Like?

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Sep 24, 2024

The U.S. Air Force is interested in adding an active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar to its X-62A test jet. The radar is part of larger plans to acquire a new modular sensor suite for the uniquely modified F-16 specifically to help expand its ability to support advanced autonomy developments.
Air

New Radar Sought To Help X-62A Test Jet Take Next Leap In Autonomy Testing

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 24, 2024

Plans to slash F-16 aggressors at Nellis Air Force Base highlight broader questions about the future of the Air Force Viper fleets.
Air

Aggressor F-16 Fleet Set To Be Slashed By Air Force

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 23, 2024

Tu-143 Hezbollah
News & Features

Hezbollah Converted Soviet Tu-143 Jet Recon Drone Into Cruise Missile Says IDF, Just Like Ukraine

By Howard Altman, By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Sep 23, 2024

JSOW Ukraine
Air

AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon To Equip Ukraine’s F-16s: Report

By Howard Altman

Posted on Sep 21, 2024

Collins Aerospace has put forward a vision for what a high-end air combat engagement between the U.S. and Chinese armed forces, with the American side employing crewed fighters and Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drone wingmen, could look like in the future.
Air

What American Fighters And Their Drone Wingmen Fighting Chinese Jets Might Look Like

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 20, 2024

An Israeli F-16I fighter jet taking off at an unidentified location.
News & Features

Israeli Airstrikes In Lebanon Intensify

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 20, 2024

Future offensive electronic warfare
Air

How EA-18G Growler’s Next Generation Jammer Actually Works And The Future Of Offensive Electronic Warfare

By Howard Altman

Updated on Sep 20, 2024

The U.S. Air Force says the once-secretive Off-Board Sensing Station (OBSS) drone program has been fully folded into the service's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) effort. General Atomics has already disclosed that its current CCA design is derived from the XQ-67 drone it developed for OBSS.
Air

Collaborative Combat Aircraft Program ‘Ingesting’ Modular Chassis Concept Pioneered By XQ-67 Drone

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Sep 20, 2024

The U.S. Air Force's top special operations officer says AC-130J Ghostriders will continue being armed with 105mm howitzers for the foreseeable future despite the gunships evolving to as focus shifts to preparing for high-end fights.
Air

AC-130J Ghostrider Gunships Will Keep Their 105mm Howitzers, For Now

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 19, 2024

The U.S. Air Force and Northrop Grumman have expanded testing of the B-21 thanks to two ground test articles, which are being used to evaluate the bomber's core construction and the time it takes before certain parts break. The tempo of flight testing of the initial pre-production Raider is also growing, with the jet now sometimes taking to the skies twice a week.
Air

B-21 Ground Test Airframes Join Flying Pre-Production Raider

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 19, 2024

The U.S. Air Force has released new video footage of its first pre-production B-21 Raider stealth bomber undergoing flight testing.
Air

New Look At B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber Flight Testing Released

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 18, 2024

The U.S. Air Force is pushing ahead with experimentation that could lead to the transformation of KC-135 tankers into optionally crewed aircraft, as well as the development of other autonomous aerial refueling capabilities. U.S. military interest in autonomous airlifters, an area where China has been notably surging forward in the past few years, is also growing.
Air

Work Toward KC-135 Tankers That Fly Themselves, Uncrewed Cargo Aircraft Pressing Ahead

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 18, 2024

A huge explosion has rocked the Tver region, in the west of Russia, with initial reports indicating that Ukrainian long-range attack drones targeted an ammunition depot there. Videos and pictures on social media from the scene show an initial explosion, with a very large fireball, followed by a significant visible shockwave, then several minutes’ worth of secondary explosions illuminating the night sky.
News & Features

Massive Russian Weapons Depot Still Burning After Ukrainian Drone Attack

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 18, 2024

Lockheed Martin's losing entry in the first increment of the U.S. Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drone program was a very stealthy design, the head of the famed Skunk Works advanced projects division has disclosed. The company is now expecting future CCA increments to revolve around proposals that might lean closer to not just being lower-cost, but maybe even expendable, to support a concept of operations that requires tolerance for very high losses.
Air

Skunk Works’ Losing Loyal Wingman Drone Was Very Stealthy “Gold Plated” Design

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 18, 2024

The U.S. Space Development Agency, or SDA has outlined the progress made so far in demonstrating a satellite-based Link 16 network to transmit data directly from space, as well as the potential of laser communications to connect satellites together, and to use those same satellites to conduct missile tracking from low Earth orbit (LEO).
Air

Link 16 Coverage From Space, Laser Communications Relays Make Major Advances

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 17, 2024

General Atomics CCA
Air

General Atomics Says Its Collaborative Combat Aircraft Is Like A Bic Lighter

By Tyler Rogoway, By Jamie Hunter

Posted on Sep 17, 2024

The U.S. Air Force has no plans to acquire stealthy uncrewed combat air vehicles (UCAV) capable of operating with very high degrees of autonomy independently of crewed aircraft, at least in the near term publicly, despite surging Chinese developments in this domain.
Air

No Flying Wing UCAVs Being Developed By U.S. Air Force While China Surges Ahead

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 17, 2024

AGM-158 XR
Air

Everything We Just Learned About The Supersized AGM-158 XR Stealth Cruise Missile

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Sep 16, 2024

Military vehicles drive down a road past a sign indicating that the border to Russia is approaching north of Sumy on August 15th 2024, in Sumy Region, Ukraine. Ukraines's incursion into Russia's Kursk has continued into a second week.
News & Features

38,000 Russian Troops Committed To Kursk Counteroffensive: Report

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 16, 2024

The U.S. Air Force's still evolving requirements for a next-generation aerial refueling 'system of systems' will directly impact the service's reassessment of plans for a new sixth-generation stealth 'fighter.' The Next-Generation Air-Refueling System (NGAS) effort will also inform work on a second tranche of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones.
Air

Future Stealth Tanker Plans Tied To NGAD 6th Generation Fighter’s Fate

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 16, 2024

Russia putting tires on top of bombers and other aircraft was about confusing seekers with image-matching capability on incoming munitions, a senior U.S. military technologist has confirmed.
Air

Russia Covering Aircraft With Tires Is About Confusing Image-Matching Missile Seekers U.S. Military Confirms

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Sep 13, 2024

MQ-9 showcases capabilities to Joint Force during first-time Valiant Shield participation.
Air

MQ-9 Reapers Gathered In Florida, Simulated Fighting Over South China Sea

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 13, 2024

Israel raid
News & Features

Israeli Commando Raid In Syria Sends A Message To Iran That Its Underground Bases Are Not Untouchable

By Howard Altman, By Tyler Rogoway, By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Sep 13, 2024

Russia is now using thermite-spewing dragon drones in Ukraine.
News & Features

Russia Now Using Thermite-Spewing ‘Dragon Drones’ To Torch Ukrainian Positions

By Howard Altman

Posted on Sep 12, 2024

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has published a video showing the purported destruction of a Russian Su-30SM Flanker multirole fighter, which it claims was brought down by a shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile over the Black Sea.
Air

Russian Su-30SM Flanker Crashes In Black Sea, Ukraine Says They Shot It Down With MANPADS

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 12, 2024

The U.S. Marine Corps legacy F/A-18C/D Hornets are getting a major boost in stand-off strike capability in the form of AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) cruise missiles
Air

Marine Legacy F/A-18 Hornets Getting Major Firepower Boost With JASSM Cruise Missiles

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 12, 2024

Defense contractor Anduril has unveiled Barracuda, a new family of what it is calling "expandable autonomous air vehicles" that are scalable, highly modular, and already being flight-tested. The company is heavily focused now on "M" versions configured as relatively low-cost air-breathing precision munitions that could be launched from helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, as well as maritime and ground platforms.
Air

Anduril Introduces Barracuda-M That Aims To Disrupt The Cruise Missile Market

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 12, 2024

Storm Shadow
News & Features

Increasing Indications Storm Shadow Missiles Will Be Cleared For Use Inside Russia

By Howard Altman

Updated on Sep 12, 2024

A Russian military correspondent narrowlly avoided being killed by a drone hunting him down in a house.
News & Features

This Ukrainian Drone Hunting A Russian Inside A Building Has Big Horror Movie Vibes

By Howard Altman

Posted on Sep 11, 2024

China has offered a new and closer look at the catapults on its newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian. We also now have what appears to be the first look inside the retractable enclosed control station built into the flight deck that catapult officers on the ship will use to launch planes.
Sea

New Chinese Aircraft Carrier’s Catapult Control ‘Bubble’ Looks Very Familiar

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 11, 2024

A series of photos have emerged showing a U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet with a remarkable and hitherto unseen air-to-air load-out, including four of the very long-range AIM-174B air-to-air missiles.
Air

F/A-18 Super Hornet Appears With Unprecedented Heavy Air-To-Air Missile Load

By Thomas Newdick, By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Sep 11, 2024

It’s the turn of the Royal Australian Navy to provide us with a spectacular view of airborne infrared countermeasures in action, with a recent video showing a demonstration by one of its MH-60R Seahawk multi-mission maritime helicopters. In the past, TWZ has taken examined some remarkable air-launched countermeasures action, including extreme close-ups, mass drops, airshow routines, and flare ‘dumps’ from heavyweight transports. This may be the first time we’ve seen a helicopter perform this kind of pyrotechnical feat so close to a warship.
Sea

Australian MH-60R Helicopter Executes Stunning Flare Dump Off Stern Of Destroyer

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 10, 2024

Ukraine has unleashed the heaviest drone attack so far against Moscow. The overnight raid on the Russian capital killed at least one person and caused widespread damage and disruption. The long-range strikes come as Ukrainian officials are increasingly frustrated by Western restrictions on using weapons that they have supplied to hit targets deep within Russia.
Air

Moscow Hit By Unprecedented Ukrainian Drone Barrage

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 10, 2024

The Piasecki Aircraft Corporation's Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System Demonstration Vehicle (ARES-DV), a vertical takeoff and landing capable tilt-rotor drone designed to carry interchangeable payload modules, has left the ground for the first time.
Air

Tilt-Ducted Fan ARES Drone Designed To Carry Modular Payloads Has Finally Lifted Off

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 10, 2024

We have just gotten our clearest view so far of a Chinese J-20 stealth fighter powered by the definitive WS-15 domestically produced engines. While the appearance of the photo at this point raises a number of questions, it’s meanwhile clear that the significant shortcoming of the J-20 — its powerplant — appears to have now been addressed.
Air

Our Best Look Yet At China’s J-20A Fighter With WS-15 Engines 

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 9, 2024

JAS39C Gripen Ukraine
Air

Sweden’s JAS-39 Gripen Fighters Still On The Table For Ukraine

By Howard Altman

Posted on Sep 9, 2024

Iranian-made Shahed-136 'Kamikaze' drone flies over the sky of Kermanshah, Iran on March 7, 2024. Iran fired over 100 drones and ballistic missiles on Saturday, April 13, 2024, in retaliation to an attack on a building attached to the country's consular annex in Damascus that killed the guards, and two generals of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on April 01, 2024. Iran has blamed Israel for the attack on April 5, 2024 in Tehran.
Air

Russian Shahed Kamikaze Drone Crashes In Latvia

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 9, 2024

Iranian ground-to-ground Sajil missile launches at an undisclosed location in Iran on November 12, 2008.
News & Features

Iranian Ballistic Missiles Have Arrived In Russia: Reports

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 7, 2024

A Boeing 737 carrying Senator J.D. Vance, former President Donald Trump's running mate for Vice President, and others, inadvertently intruded briefly into some of the most restricted airspace on the planet earlier this week as it left Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport.
Air

J.D. Vance’s Campaign Jet Inadvertently Buzzed The Washington Monument

By Joseph Trevithick, By Howard Altman

Posted on Sep 6, 2024

F-16 belonging to VFC-13, flying over Carson Valley, NV.
Air

Navy Tried To Buy Greek F-16s To Turn Them Into Adversaries

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 6, 2024

A video has emerged showing a Ukrainian Su-24M Fencer swing-wing combat jet carrying what is said to be new air-launched guided munition.
Air

Mystery Munition Appears Under Ukrainian Su-24 Fencer Attack Jet’s Wing

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 6, 2024

Satellite imagery and videos offer new evidence of a surge in the development of the stealthy flying-wing uncrewed combat air vehicles in China, especially with regard to the GJ-11 Sharp Sword.
Air

Chinese Flying Wing UCAV Testing Accelerating Based On Satellite Imagery, Videos

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 5, 2024

Dutch Decide To Bring Back Main Battle Tanks
Land

Dutch Decide To Bring Back Main Battle Tanks

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 5, 2024

Adversary air company Top Aces' F-16 Vips, the only ones currently in the hands of a private operator, are now flying with podded infrared search and track (IRST) systems.
Air

World’s Only Privately Owned F-16 Aggressors Get Infrared Search And Track Pods

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 5, 2024

The U.S. Space Force second-in-command has provided updates on plans for the service’s introduction of space-based ground moving-target indicator and air moving-target indicator (GMTI/AMTI) capabilities.
Space

U.S. To Track Moving Air And Ground Targets Via Space By 2030, But Aircraft Will Still Play A Part

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on Sep 5, 2024

The use of thermite-dispersing drones by Ukraine has proliferated.
News & Features

Thermite-Spewing ‘Dragon’ Drones Are Ukraine’s Newest Battlefield Innovation

By Howard Altman, By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Sep 4, 2024

The U.S. Air Force is re-examining the very core of its requirements for a new sixth-generation stealth combat jet as part of its ongoing review of that element of the larger Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative.
Air

Air Force “Starting At The Beginning” With NGAD 6th Gen Fighter Requirements Review

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 4, 2024

Above All Else JASSM Would Give Ukraine A Steady Supply Of Cruise Missiles
Air

Above All Else JASSM Would Give Ukraine A Steady Supply Of Cruise Missiles

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Sep 3, 2024

Ukraine has developed a balloon-carried electronic warfare system designed to detect enemy drone operators, which can then be targeted, offering a more comprehensive solution than tackling individual drones. While the status of the system, known as Aero Azimuth, is unclear, its unveiling points to a resurgence in interest in elevated sensors, especially mounted of aerostats.
Air

Balloon-Based Sensor That Pinpoints Location Of Drone Operators Emerges In Ukraine

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 3, 2024

The U.S. Air Force recently awarded contracts to two companies for work on SHARK 'buddy store' podded aerial refueling systems able to work with aircraft that use the boom method to get gas in flight.
Air

Aerial Refueling Boom Pods That Could Go On F-15s In The Works

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 3, 2024

Ukraine is advancing slowly eastward to a key town in Russia's Kursk Oblast
News & Features

Ukraine Pushing Slowly West In Russia Towards Key Kursk City

By Howard Altman

Posted on Aug 31, 2024

AC-130
Air

The Future Of The AC-130 Gunship: Evolve Or Die

By Tyler Rogoway

Updated on Aug 31, 2024

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